Centrifuge systems for continuously feeding and removing liquid from metal chips, shavings or other material impregnated with lubricating or other fluids are known in the prior art. As used herein, these materials are referred to as "chips." Such systems are illustrated, for example, in Nemedi U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,822, Dudley U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,176 and Areaux U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,096. In these systems, the centrifugal separator unit includes a plurality of blades attached to the bottom wall of a rotatable separator bowl disposed inside the centrifugal parts separator unit. The bowl and blades rotate about a vertical axis during operation causing the mixture of the chips and lubricant to move upward along the interior side of the bowl. The centrifuged mixture moves past a screen at the upper edge of the bowl at which location lubricant is separated out from the chips. The rotating blades or other suitable means in the centrifugal separator serve to generate air movement sufficient to blow or pull the chips or other materials through and out of an annular-shaped discharge housing to a further location where the separated materials are collected.
When the separated chips reach the discharge housing following lubricant removal, they are relatively dry, most of the lubricant having been removed. In some instances, the chips are moving at speeds upwards in excess of 100 miles per hour. Due to the high speeds and the dryness of the chips, excessive wear occurs throughout at least the annular-shaped portion of the discharge housing.
As described in Nemedi '822 patent, depending upon the use of the separator device, a problem sometimes arises due to the wear of the separator parts. In the annular-shaped portion of the discharge housing located above the lubricant discharge area, the chips scrape the sides of the housing as the chips and materials move toward the exit discharge opening. Scraping of the sides causes adverse wear in at least the annular-shaped portion of the discharge housing. With prior art centrifugal separating devices, it generally is necessary to dismantle a substantial portion of the machine to remove and replace a worn discharge housing or its components. Replacement is often times a relatively expensive, time consuming procedure because of the down time of the machine, the cost of the replacement parts, and the labor of mechanics required to perform the replacement operation.
What is desired is to have a centrifugal separator device wherein the worn or damaged portion of the discharge housing can be relatively easily replaced without the need for disassembling a substantial portion of the separator device. Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal separator apparatus having an improved discharge housing wherein at least the scroll portion of the housing can be relatively readily replaced.